双语早读丨英国机构：将非洲债务危机归咎于中国是转移目标

西方国家频频抹黑中国给非洲带来“债务危机”，但英国活动团体“债务正义”7月11日发布的最新调查显示，非洲国家欠西方银行、资产管理公司和石油交易商的债务，是其欠中国债务的3倍；前者收取的利率也是中国的两倍。“债务正义”政策负责人蒂姆·琼斯指出：“西方领导人将非洲的债务危机归咎于中国，但这是在转移注意力。事实上，他们自己的银行、资产管理公司和石油交易商的责任更大，但七国集团却让他们置身事外。”

[Photo/Agencies]

英国活动团体“债务正义”7月11日公布的一项研究显示，非洲国家欠西方银行、资产管理公司和石油交易商的债务是来自中国贷款的三倍，利息是中国的两倍。尽管如此，美国等其他西方国家仍不断指责中国是一些非洲国家债务问题的幕后推手。该研究表示，根据世界银行数据计算，仅12％的非洲国家外债来自中国银行，而高达35％的债务来自西方私营机构。

African countries owe three times more debt to Western banks, asset managers and oil traders than to China, and are charged double the interest, according to a study released on July 11th by British campaign charity Debt Justice. This is despite the growing accusations by the US and other Western countries that China’s lending is behind the debt troubles faced by some African countries. The study said just 12 percent of the continent’s external debt was owed to Chinese lenders, compared to 35 percent owed to Western private creditors, according to calculations based on World Bank data.

研究发现，与中国公有和私营银行2.7％的贷款利率相比，西方私营机构的平均利率高达5％，几乎是前者的两倍。对于那些负债最多的非洲国家而言，他们最大的债主也不太可能是中国。

Interest rates charged on private loans were almost double those on Chinese loans, while the most indebted countries were less likely to have their debt dominated by China, the study found. The average interest rate on private sector loans is 5 percent, compared to 2.7 percent on loans from Chinese public and private lenders.

这份研究在7月15日至16日在印度尼西亚举办的二十国集团（G20）财长会议前夕发布。该机构旨在呼吁西方国家，特别是英国和美国，敦促私人贷款方参加债务减免共同框架。研究指出，在22个债务水平最高的非洲国家中，包括佛得角、乍得、埃及、加蓬、马拉维、摩洛哥、卢旺达、塞内加尔、突尼斯和赞比亚等在内的12个国家超过30％的外债均来自私营借贷机构。

The study was released ahead of the G20 finance ministers meeting from July 15-16 in Indonesia. Campaigners are calling on Western countries, particularly Britain and the US, to compel private lenders to take part in the Common Framework – the G20’s latest debt relief scheme. The study found a dozen of the 22 African countries with the highest debts were paying more than 30 percent of their total external repayments to private lenders. These included Cabo Verde, Chad, Egypt, Gabon, Malawi, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Tunisia and Zambia.

其中南苏丹向私营借贷方借贷占比最高，81％的外债都来自私营借贷方，而其所欠中国外债仅占总量的11％。加纳所欠的外债中，超过50％来自私营机构，11％来自中国，剩余部分则来自多边组织和其他外国政府。

South Sudan is one of the hardest hit in this category, with 81 percent of its debt repayments going to private creditors, and just 11 percent to China. Ghana is also paying more than half of its external debt obligations to the private sector, with 11 percent going to China and the rest to multilateral lenders and other governments.

在22个债务最多的非洲国家中，仅有六个国家（安哥拉、喀麦隆、刚果共和国、吉布提、埃塞俄比亚和赞比亚）超过三成的外债来自中国。

Chinese lenders accounted for more than 30 percent of loan payments in six of the 22 most indebted countries – Angola, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Zambia. 

债务正义政策负责人蒂姆·琼斯表示，西方领导人将非洲的债务危机归咎于中国，“是在转移注意力”。

Debt Justice policy head Tim Jones said Western leaders blamed China for debt crises in Africa, “but this is a distraction”.

“实际上，西方国家自己的银行、资产管理机构和石油交易商的责任要大得多，但是七国集团却让他们置身事外。”琼斯表示，新冠肺炎疫情期间，中国积极参与G20的《暂缓最贫困国家债务偿付倡议》，而西方私营贷款方却并未参加。“如果没有私营贷款方的参与，我们就无法达成有效的债务解决方案。英美两国应该出台相关法律，迫使这些机构参与减缓债务。”

“The truth is their own banks, asset managers and oil traders are far more responsible but the G7 are letting them off the hook.” Jones said China had taken part in the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative during the pandemic, while private lenders did not. “There can be no effective debt solution without the involvement of private lenders. The UK and US should introduce legislation to compel private lenders to take part in debt relief,” he said.

二十国集团于2020年5月发起的倡议缓解了48个国家的现金流压力，截至2021年12月底到期前，该倡议暂停的参与国所欠其债权人债务的偿还总额约为129亿美元。

The G20 initiative, unveiled in May 2020, provided 48 economies with temporary cash-flow relief, delivering about US$12.9 billion in debt service payments by the end of December when it ended.

但将私人和多边贷款机构排除在外意味着，申请参与该倡议的国家只有23%的外债被暂停。

But the exclusion of private and multilateral lenders meant countries that applied to take part in the initiative saw just 23 percent of their external repayments suspended. 

作为暂缓最贫困国家债务偿付倡议的替代方案，二十国集团《债务处理共同框架》允许参与国与双边放贷方及国际货币基金组织达成协议，进行债务重组。随后，这些国家应该与私营贷款机构也达成类似的债务处理方案。今年5月，七国集团财政部长发表声明，将债务减缓计划未能成功帮助重债国家避免债务违约的责任归咎于中国。

The initiative’s replacement, the G20 Common Framework, allows participating countries to agree to restructure debt with bilateral lenders and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The nations are then supposed to seek similar debt treatment from private sector creditors. The G7 countries have blamed China for the failure of the debt relief programme to help heavily indebted countries avoid default, doubling down in May with a statement from the finance ministers of the world’s seven most advanced economies.

非洲债务与发展论坛和网络项目负责人西奥·琼则表示，非洲国家最大的债主仍然是多边和私营借贷机构。他说：“来自中国的贷款虽然增加了非洲的债务，但其借贷规模仍然远远少于西方。所有借贷机构必须参与债务减缓工作，而西方国家则必须带头让其私营借贷机构参与其中。”

Yungong Theo Jong, head of programmes at the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (Afrodad), said multilateral and private lenders remained the biggest creditors to African governments. “Loans from China have increased Africa’s indebtedness, but by far less than Western lenders. All lenders must participate in debt relief. Western governments must lead the way by making private lenders cancel debts,” he said.

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来源：中国日报网英语点津（编辑：董静）

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